BurlingtonPol.com

Ok, I'll start. Bernie Sanders is a bit of a madman - and I don't think the Barak Obama stunt is going to help him. Because everybody I've talked to loved Obama but Bernie is still Bernie - bringing a great orator (from a different party) doesn't really have anything to do the candidate in question. It just proves that he can play the game.

At this point, we all know Bernie - it's not like we need to be introduced to him, his platform, or his eccentricities. The battle lies in convincing the voters that he would be better suited to serve us that someone who, well...is better suited to serve us.

*magic 8 ball jiggles*
"outlook not so good"

 

If there's someone better suited to serve us, they should jump into the race.

Thanks for kicking off "open mike" Tirade. We love it when you join us at BP.

 

I have a question for you Haik - which political party(ies) have you been affiliated with or done work with in the past few years?

 

Thanks for asking. Let me just say that I am an Independent. As far as my affiliations or work with parties: I ran for mayor in 1991 and 2001 as an Independent. In 1995 I ran for city council (and won) as a member of the Progressive Coalition(not party). In 2000 I voted in the Republican primary for McCain. This year I voted for Miller at the Dems' mayoral caucus. Other than that, I've just done volunteering- mainly for Democrats- Clinton, Gore and Dean come to mind... oh, and Bernie. Yeah, and I read a book by Lamar Alexander once, too.

 

Any plans to run for mayor in the future, Haik?

 

No plans. Let's give Bob a chance. I'll be around for a long time.

 

I don't think having Obama there was a stunt, I think it was a good political move. Obama is a dynamic and passionate speaker who would be a very strong president. Having one of the rising stars of the Democratic party speaking at a rally wins votes. I thought it was a great move.

Fells

 

Ok, Haik, here is a question from the newsdesk.......When are you writing a book?

Fells

 

Oooh! Don't say "rising star!" It burns my ears! Too overused!

I've been mulling over writing a book called "My Unabridged Resume" that would include in painful detail every job I've ever quit or been fired from (there are many). I wouldn't want anybody at my current job to see it though, or I'd probably get fired again! Somebody has to buy food and diapers for Koko.

(To protect the innocent, I refer to my wife and son as "Poopsie" and "Koko" respectively on this blog)

 

Hey, wasn't Grey Davis the previous Democratic 'rising star'/ future president?
I had to laugh at the Obama segment on channel 5 news (or was that the Bernie segment). One, because he was saying something about how some people are 'long on rhetoric and short on substance', which is what I think of him. He's a smooth talker and looks sharp, but he's still singing the same old Democratic tune.
The other laugh was when he started in on Bernie about his suit. That was a riot. Of course Bernie looked disheveled and was wearing a bad fitting suit that looked like he's been sleeping in it for a few days. That's his shtick though.
Is it just me, or has Bernie become the insider fat-cat that he went to Washington to fight? Bringing in a big name Politician and taking money from out of staters...

 

Yeah, Optimizer. it's just you. Bernie never went to DC to fight cats. Thanks for visiting BP. Meow!

 

Oh, thank goodness! I always thought Koko was your sons real name.

 

"Koko" would be an easier joke-target than "Haik." I wouldn't do that to him.

It's funny that you thought that. I gotta do an "about me" page at some point so I can explain stuff like that...

 

I'm curious what you folks think about prog / democrat relations, and inter-prog relations in Burlington. I always considered myself a progocrat (I agree with some stuff Burlington Republicans have to say as well), but I'm amazed by the bitter divisions among these people who fundamentally agree on everything. Anybody know what's up? Where's the beef? What's the scoop on the bad blood?

 

The left is always factional. I'd be worried if they weren't fighting. But you're right Amy, Dems and Progs agree on many things. Most huffing and puffing is just theater. Don't worry.

 

Haik, you wrote in a comment above,

"In 2000 I voted in the Republican primary for McCain."

There's interesitng Krugman column about John McCain in Monday's NYT (thanks to truthout.org - on the NYT site, one has to *pay* to read Krugman, Dowd, etc. - so truthout thoughtfully posts it for free on its site).

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031406Z.shtml

 

Just so you know, I didn't vote for McCain because I wanted him to be president. I take every chance I get to vote against Bush. I voted against Bush when he ran for re-election as governor of Texas, too.

Thanks for the link and for reading BurlingtonPol. Visit often!

 

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I think it is completely lame when people vote in another party’s primary. I think the people of that party have the right to decide their own candidate. After all, that candidate will represent their party.

I know Republicans who voted in the Democratic primary to vote against Dean, since no one was opposing Bush, and I made it very clear that I thought that was completely wrong for them to do it, too.

 

I didn't vote in "another party's" primary. I don't belong to a party. I'm an Independent.

In 2000 I voted in the Republican primary for McCain. In 2004 I voted in the Democratic primary for Dean.

You may have a point about who should choose the candidates, but I don't feel guilty at all. I'm happy to use the system any way I'm allowed to further the causes I think are right.

Maybe it is lame, but I couldn't care less.

 

Yikes! Hinda Miller was on TV tonight testifying before a house committee against IRV. She says the system can be gamed and that it frightens her. Sandy Baird testified against it too, saying it didn't allow candidates to distinguish themselves. Good lord, Hinda ran since frigging September. Seems likes enough time to get her message out. She's a bad pony and I'm glad I didn't bet on her.

 

After seeing it in action, I am a huge fan of the IRV system. It was effective, easy, and very cost effective. Hinda needs to remember that under the traditional system, a runoff would have occurred, she would not have been guaranteed to win, and the runoff would have been an additional expense to the city. I am a proponent of implementing the system statewide, and hope if a bill comes before Governor Douglas, he will not veto the bill as has been rumored.

Chris

 

Gamed? You mean she said it could be rigged? As in cheating?

 

The Dems are no fans of IRV either. If Condos is your senator, call him and tell him you're a proponent.

The work Hinda use was "gamed". She felt it was unfair that Curley chose Kiss as a second choice and suggest to voters as much.

 

Anything can be "gamed." If she's not saying there was cheating, she's not saying anything. She's a bit of a BS artist, huh? She'd better keep an eye on that senate seat of hers...

 

I talked about IRV on my channel 17 show in January and I had one caller raise an interesting point. When you have a traditional run-off it gives you a chance to focus on the top two candidates more than you could in the main race with a packed field. The campaign for the run-off would really give the voters a chance to distinguish between the top two, whereas during the general election things get kind of muddled the larger the field of candidates is.

Personally, I don’t like IRV because the candidates are afraid to challenge what the others say, for fear of losing the second place votes of that candidate’s supporters. Some say this makes for more “civil” elections, but I think it allows candidates to get away with making statements that are not exactly true or distorting their own record. There were some things that were said that I would have liked to hear the candidates challenged on, but no one did it.

 

Kiss also testified and calmy, in a very nice way, said the opposite. That's the equivalent of saying "Hinda, you're just wrong, okay?" Case closed.

 

Charity does have a point. Look at all the extra-mileage this blog is getting out of Decelles-Blais. A longer campaign is tailor-made for endeavors such as she's right and bp.

 

A lot of people thought they *had* to rank all of the candidates. So many of the second and lower choice votes weren't nearly as well thought out as they would have been in a true runoff.

 

There's much (good) to be said about 'the loyal opposition'.

 

Loyal's a big proponent of IRV.

 

If Loyal runs in the next election, I wonder if he will get more than 58 votes.....

 

It saddens me that our own Senator Leahy is behind the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) that would hurt small farmers and homesteaders who are raising their own food. I voted for this guy and now he is slitting our throats with pushing the USDA to make regulations that will place an unreasonable burden of both cost and time on livestock owners. The excuse is disease control but the real reason is so that the very big beef producers can ship their meat to foriegn markets like Japan. They can have NAIS but it should be kept 100% voluntary. It is not needed at the local level, home level or on small farms.

 

My favorite over-night talk-show host did four hours on this subject last night. If what his guests said is any indication, Big Brother is already here. Has our local current and choice defender of agr-life in Vermont spoken out yet?

 

Has anyone seen V for Vendetta??